At 12:41 a.m. ET Monday, the astronauts are expected to enter the lunar sphere of influence, meaning the pull of the moon’s gravity will become stronger than Earth’s.
The mission’s long-awaited lunar flyby will occur later that day, during which the Artemis II astronauts will view never-before-seen parts of the moon’s surface. These areas on the far side are not visible from Earth because that part of the moon always faces away from our planet. Even the Apollo astronauts couldn’t view much of the moon’s far side due to the paths and timing of their flights.
The official lunar flyby period for Artemis II lasts six hours and begins at 2:45 p.m. ET.
As the Orion capsule swings around the moon, Wiseman, Koch, Glover and Hansen are set to travel farther from Earth than any humans have before. They’re expected to reach their maximum distance from Earth — 252,757 miles —
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